President returns NAO bill, says it will promote graft.

ISLAMABAD -- In line with his PTI's stance, President Dr Arif Alvi on Monday did not give his assent to a bill regarding amendments to the National AccountAability Ordinance (NAO), terming it 'regressive that will cripple long arm of the law and promote corruption in the country'.

On Sunday, the president had returned electoral reforms bill unsigned.

The two bills were approved by the National Assembly and Senate last month and were sent to the president for approAval. However, Mr Alvi sent them back to the government unsigned on June 4.

In response to the president's refusal to approve the bills, the government convened a joint sitting of the parliament on June 9 and the two bills were approved by the joint sitting the same day.

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After the bills are passed by the joint sitting of parliament, they are sent to the president for his assent. If the president does not give his assent to a joint session of parliament-approved bill within 10 days, it is deemed to have been approved.

According to a statement issued by the Presidency, Dr Alvi said he believed the bill to be 'regressive in nature and it would promote corruption by ensuring that the long arm of the law is crippled'.

President Alvi further said that the bill sent a message to the corrupt, who had amassed tremendous wealth that he/she, was not accountable to anyone and was free to continue to plunder the country.

'This law, like all other laws vesting authority in the executive, was abused for political exigencies by those in power. Because of this reason, along with the role of vested interests, the accountability process in Pakistan has become quite ineffective. While the public clamoured for the return of looted wealth, the long judicial processes involved and ineffective prosecution actually made it very difficult to expose, prevent and eliminate corruption,' the president said.

'Having weak accountability is against the basic rights of the people of Pakistan [...] it is also against the fundamentals of our Constitution,' the president said.

Meanwhile, Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) chairman Imran Khan has said that...